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An illustrated biography of the celebrated artist James Ensor The Belgian artist James Ensor (1860–1949) was a major figure in the Belgian avant-garde of the late 19th century and an important precursor to the development of Expressionism in the early 20th century. Daring and socially engaged, Ensor included political, religious, historical, and autobiographical themes in his works. He is known for brightly colored depictions of masked skeletons, seascapes, and carnivals, which frequently tend toward the macabre or grotesque. Structured like a biography, this book explores Ensor’s life and art year by year. Chapters are illustrated with Ensor’s masterpieces as well as archival photographs and previously unpublished letters.Distributed for Mercatorfonds

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In 1912-1913, James Ensor produced a series of 32 drawings in coloured pencil titled Scènes de la vie du Christ [Scenes from the life of Christ]. Each drawing on paper measures about 15 by 21 cm. The series depicts different episodes from the lives of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. In it, Ensor managed to combine the sublime and the grotesque in an unsurpassed manner. Some compositions are quite conventional, others typically 'Ensorian', and some even humorous. Among the works in the series is a drawing in which Ensor portrays himself as Christ, confronted with a dozen Belgian art critics who have gathered before him. In 1929 the drawings were made into lithographs and published in the form of an album by Galerie Georges Giroux in Brussels. These drawings can be considered as a link between the Ostend master's early and later oeuvre. The series combines various motifs which Ensor also executed in oil paint. The author of the work, Xavier Tricot, also pays close attention to the figure of Christ in James Ensor's work. From 1885 onward, the figure of Christ occupied a central position in Ensor's oeuvre. In some of his works, the artist identified with the Messiah.

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James Joyce, one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, spent several weeks in Ostend during the summer of 1926. In order to escape the oppressive heat of Paris he, his wife Nora and his daughter Lucia chose fashionable Ostend to cool down. From Paris he wrote several letters, mainly to the American Sylvia Beach who had her famous bookshop - Shakespeare and Co. - in Paris, as well as to Briton Harriet Shaw Weaver who supported him financially. During his stay, Joyce takes long walks along the beach, his daughter Lucia takes photographs that are published for the first time, and in a pharmacy, Joyce meets an Irish friend whom he hasn't seen for more than 20 years. During his stay the family undergoes a terrible summer storm which will affect Finnegans Wake, his latest publication. In one of his letters (dated 11 August 1926) he writes about Ostend: "This is by far the best place we have been in for a summer holiday."

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